God comes to you during your most vulnerable times. I’m thankful God doesn’t hold grudges. When you suffer the loss of a loved one, God visits you. When you experience evil unjustly, God visits you. When you have sinned and don’t serve it, God visits you. No matter how I feel, God is always faithful, gracious and merciful. Joseph and his brothers experienced God’s grace through their deepest valleys.
God Visits When You Grieve
Joseph wept when his father, Israel, died and so did the Egyptians for 70 days. Joseph asked Pharaoh if he could bury his father in Canaan to fulfill a promise to him. Household and Egyptian elders, his brothers and all of Pharaoh’s servants, along with chariots and horsemen went with him. The Canaanites saw how grievous the Egyptians mourned. Israel’s sons buried Jacob in Abraham’s tomb and then returned to Egypt (Gen. 50:1-14). God provides physical and emotional support through others in times of grief.
God Visits When You Experience Evil
Joseph’s brothers were concerned that Joseph could bear a grudge and pay back the wrong they did to him. They sent a message to Joseph charging that their father wanted him to forgive their sin. Joseph wept and said, “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? You meant evil against me but God meant it for good to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.” Joseph told them to not fear since he would provide for their families. He comforted and spoke kindly to them (Gen. 50:15-21). God uses evil to accomplish His good purposes in the world.
God Visits When You Don’t Deserve It
Joseph told his brothers that he was about to die, but assured them that God would care for them and bring them to the land He promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Joseph made his brothers swear that they would carry his bones from Egypt to Canaan (Gen. 50:22-26). God cares and intervenes in peoples’ lives even when they sin against others.
How has God visited you directly and through others in your times of grief, experiencing evil and when you don’t deserve it.
